HR 8363
116th Congress
House
Government Operations and Politics
Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Appropriations
Budget process
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
Civil actions and liability
Congressional elections
Congressional oversight
Congressional-executive branch relations
Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation
Criminal procedure and sentencing
Defense spending
Department of Defense
Department of Justice
Director of National Intelligence
Elections, voting, political campaign regulation
Employment discrimination and employee rights
Evidence and witnesses
Executive agency funding and structure
Federal officials
Hatch Act Accountability Act
Everywhere this bill has been
3 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Sep 23, 2020
Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, the Budget, Transportation and Infrastructure, Rules, Foreign Affairs, Ways and Means, Intelligence (Permanent Select), and House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Sep 23, 2020
Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management.
Sep 23, 2020
Introduced in House
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Plain-English summary
Protecting Our Democracy Act
This bill addresses issues involving (1) abuses of presidential power; (2) checks and balances, accountability, and transparency; and (3) foreign interference in elections.
Specifically, regarding abuses of presidential power, the bill
- requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the President to submit to Congress specified materials relating to certain pardons;
- prohibits self-pardons by the President;
- suspends the statute of limitations for any federal offense committed by a sitting President or Vice President;
- prohibits the acceptance of foreign or domestic emoluments, authorizes civil actions by Congress concerning foreign emoluments, and requires the President to make certain disclosures; and
- sets forth provisions regarding enforcement authority of the Office of Government Ethics and Office of Special Counsel jurisdiction.
To address checks and balances, accountability, and transparency, the bill, among other things
- authorizes specified actions to enforce congressional subpoenas,
- requires appropriations to be made available for obligation in a timely manner,
- imposes limits on presidential declarations of emergencies,
- requires DOJ to maintain a log of communications between it and the White House regarding certain investigations,
- requires cause for removal of inspectors general,
- increases whistleblower protections,
- reauthorizes the Merit Systems Protection Board, and
- establishes penalties for political appointees who engage in prohibited political activities.
To protect against foreign interference in elections, the bill
- requires federal campaign reporting of foreign contacts,
- requires federal campaigns to establish a foreign contacts compliance policy, and
- specifies that foreign donations to political campaigns and candidates of nonpublic information relating to a candidate are prohibited.
What's happening now
Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, the Budget, Transportation and Infrastructure, Rules, Foreign Affairs, Ways and Means, Intelligence (Permanent Select), and House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Related & companion bills
15
Bill text
1 version
- Introduced in House Formatted Text PDF Formatted XML
Committees of jurisdiction
10
- Budget Committee
- Committee on House Administration
- Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management Subcommittee
- Foreign Affairs Committee
- Intelligence (Permanent Select) Committee
- Judiciary Committee
- Oversight and Government Reform Committee
- Rules Committee
- Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
- Ways and Means Committee
Cosponsors
74
D
Huffman, Jared
D
Aguilar, Pete
D
Bonamici, Suzanne
D
Frankel, Lois
D
Beatty, Joyce
D
Brownley, Julia
D
DelBene, Suzan K.
D
DeSaulnier, Mark
D
Evans, Dwight
D
Foster, Bill
D
Johnson, Henry C. "Hank"
D
Larsen, Rick
D
Moulton, Seth
D
Neguse, Joe
D
Schakowsky, Janice D.
D
Veasey, Marc A.
D
Bera, Ami
D
Beyer, Donald S.
D
Carson, André
D
Case, Ed
D
Casten, Sean
D
Castro, Joaquin
D
Courtney, Joe
D
Crow, Jason
D
Cuellar, Henry
D
DeGette, Diana
D
DeLauro, Rosa L.
D
Escobar, Veronica
D
Espaillat, Adriano
D
Garamendi, John
D
Garcia, Sylvia R.
D
Hayes, Jahana
Heck, Denny
D
Himes, James A.
D
Kaptur, Marcy
D
Larson, John B.
Lawrence, Brenda
D
Luján, Ben Ray
D
Lynch, Stephen F.
Malinowski, Tom
D
Matsui, Doris O.
D
McCollum, Betty
D
McGovern, James P.
D
Mfume, Kweisi
D
Morelle, Joseph D.
D
Norton, Eleanor Holmes
Perlmutter, Ed
D
Pingree, Chellie
PRICE, DAVID
D
Quigley, Mike
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Cite this page
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 8363: Protecting Our Democracy Act. 116th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/116-HR-8363/
"H.R. 8363: Protecting Our Democracy Act." 116th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/116-HR-8363/.
H.R. 8363, 116th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/116-HR-8363/.
[H.R. 8363: Protecting Our Democracy Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/116-HR-8363/)